Power as Relative Position: A Foundational Theory of Systemic Asymmetry

We talk about power all the time—whether it’s a boss at work, politics on the news, or even who leads in a group of friends. But here’s the problem: different fields explain power in totally different ways. Psychologists say it’s about personality, sociologists say it’s about rules, and political scientists say it’s about institutions. With so many versions, no one can agree on what “power” really is.

A unified theory cuts through the noise. It gives us one clear lens to see how power works everywhere—from animals fighting for rank, to companies competing, to countries negotiating. Without it, “power” just stays a vague word. With it, we can finally compare, measure, and understand why some people (or systems) always end up with more control than others.

Power is a pervasive feature of life: from dominance hierarchies in primates to coordination in human organizations and competition in international geopolitics, systems consistently exhibit asymmetries of influence and control. At the same time, perfect equality is vanishingly rare, yet despite this ubiquity, existing accounts of power remain fragmented, often conflating it with cultural norms, institutional rules, or personal traits.

To address this gap, we provide a systemic account of biological and psychological evidence, highlighting how positional asymmetries—rather than individual differences or conventions—consistently shape access to resources, coordination, and influence. Building on this foundation,

we advance a unified system-theoretic account of power, defining it as relative position in a system. From this definition we derive five lemmas that explain how power reinforces itself, converges, produces exponential distributions, resists local disruptions, and stabilizes against challenge. This framework clarifies when power is truly at play and establishes a foundation for rigorous system-level analysis of asymmetry.

Power shows up in every system we live in. Families, teams, companies, communities—some positions always hold more access, coordination, and influence.

But most people misread it. They think power comes from human flaws, social exploitation, or system failure. In reality, it isn’t a bug.

Power is a core system property. Wherever interactions scale, asymmetry emerges. It shapes how systems stabilize, concentrate, and transform.

Understanding power isn’t optional. It’s the only way to see how systems truly work.